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Co-ops, Students and Faculty together:
The UMass Co-operative Enterprise Collaborative
Association of Co-operative Educators Institute
University of Massachusetts, Amherst 13 July 2015
www.umasscec.org
Erbin Crowell Executive Director, Neighboring Food Co-op Association, Adjunct Lecturer Nancy Folbre Professor Emerita of Economics at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst Olivia Geiger PhD student in the UMass, Amherst Department of Economics Adam Trott Staff, VAWC; Worker/Member, Collective Copies
Your Presenters
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What we'd like to discuss today
• Introductions • The Academy and Co-operatives: Effective Partners? • Beginnings – Secondary Co-ops, Economists, & Student
Run Co-ops • What can we learn from Co-op Values & Principles? • Perspectives • Activities and Goals • Vision for Co-operative Education • Your Thoughts
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Challenges & Opportunities
• Opportunities to learn about co-operative enterprise are extremely limited. • Co-op model is often conflated/confused with differing ownership models and social enterprise with dissimilar structures, governance, principles. • Students are receiving a limited view of the world and their agency within it.
• Renewed interest in the co-op alternative presents an opportunity for forward-thinking academic institutions, academics.
• Research can support the success of co-operative businesses moving forward.
• Co-ops have access to better equipped members and employees; students have access to career opportunities.
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The Academy & Co-ops: Effective Partners?
• The co-operative movement represents a distinct economic alternative that is global in impact, relevant to contemporary economic issues, diverse, and resilient. Why are co-ops rarely focused on as a social movement and economic model?
• Are we satisfied with the current systems being taught? Do they offer students a full view of society and our economy?
• How can co-ops contribute to the development of curricula and learning opportunities such as internships?
• How can the academy and the co-operative movement build effective partnerships for education on co-operative enterprise that can last over time?
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Beginnings: A Worker Co-op Association
• A secondary co-operative of worker co-ops
• Linked to/founded from social justice and environmental movements
• 7 Member Co-ops with 70+ worker members
• $7.3 million revenue (2014), $38K in charitable donations, $35K+ in interco-operative purchases
• Supported six conversions to worker co-ops
• Advertises in co-op movement media and newsletters
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Beginnings: UMass Academic Engagement
• Legacy of progressive economic perspectives (leftist, Marxist, feminist, labor)
• UMass among most affordable universities in state
• Julie Graham and the Community Economies Collective
• The Center for Popular Economics
• The US Solidarity Economy Network
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Beginnings: UMass Co-operative Legacy
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W.E.B. DuBois (1868-1963) Murray Lincoln (1892-1966)
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Beginnings: UMass Co-operative Legacy
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W.E.B. DuBois Library UMASS Amherst
• b. Great Barrington, MA • First African American to
receive doctorate from Harvard • Scholar, Civil Rights Activist,
Socialist, Pan-Africanist • Niagara Movement (1905) • Co-founded NAACP (1909) • UMASS Amherst Library
named for Du Bois (1994) • Author: “Economic Co-
operation among Negro Americans (1907)
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Beginnings: UMass Co-operative Legacy
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Murray Lincoln (1892-1966)
• UMASS Alumnus (Massachusetts Agricultural College, 1914)
• Campus Center named for him in 1970
• Ohio Farm Bureau Co-operative Association
• Founder of Nationwide Insurance • President, National Co-operative
Business Association, 1941-’65 • First President of CARE (Co-
operative for Assistance & Relief Everywhere)
• Board, International Co-operative Alliance
• Co-operative Hall of Fame (1976)
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UMass Student Run Businesses
• Established 1975 • Collectively managed
non-profit businesses • Mission: To “provide co-
curricular training and education in co-operative management, life skills and business skills in a supportive and diverse setting.”
• umass.edu/rso/csb/
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UMass Student Run Businesses
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• 7 businesses • 145 student positions • $709,719 revenue (‘13) • First business founded
1971 (Sylvan Snack Bar)
• Bike Co-op and Campus Design & Copy, 1990
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Beginnings: A Regional Association of Food Co-ops
• A secondary co-operative of co-ops 35 food co-ops and start-up initiatives in New England
• Combined membership of more than 90,000, employ over 1,700 people, and annual revenue of $255 million (2013).
• Commitment to education and wider effort to build awareness of the co-operative business model.
• Member of UMass CEC; executive director serves as adjunct lecturer on the co-operative movement.
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What to learn from the Co-op Identity?
5. Education, Training and Information Co-operatives provide education and training for their members, elected representatives, managers, and employees so they can contribute effectively to the development of their co-operatives. They inform the general public - particularly young people and opinion leaders - about the nature and benefits of co-operation.
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What to learn from the Co-op Identity?
ICA Guidance Notes on the Co-operative Principles: “Co-operative education needs to be equally as bold, innovative and imaginative today [as in the past], embracing the opportunities provided by new technologies, strengthening links with universities to encourage research, and using education to disseminate research findings to inform policy makers, members, and the wider public… Effective co-operative education programmes can support the renaissance and renewal of an established co-operative movement and help unlock the vision and energies of a new generation…” www.ica.coop
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Creating Collaboration: UMass CEC
• Faculty, Students, Administrators and Co-operative Associations began meeting together in 2008
• Speakers, events, collaboration with student run co-ops
• Collaborative curriculum development with UMass Economics Department
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Certificate Program
www.umasscec.org
• Intro and upper level courses • Internship program with VAWC
and NFCA Member Co-ops • Research goals co-created by
students, CEC and co-ops • Currently reaching 200+
students a year • Supporting student run co-ops
on campus • Supporting career opportunities
for students in 500 MA co-ops, 29K US co-ops.
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Core Courses
Introduction to the Co-operative Movement • 100-level introductory course • Historical and philosophy; evolution of co-operative enterprise; comparative models and practice; and Relevance of the co-operative alternative to contemporary economic and social issues such as globalization, climate change and the global financial crisis. • Developed and delivered by Erbin Crowell, NFCA, as adjunct lecturer
Economics of Co-operative Enterprise • Upper level undergraduate course with prerequisites • Developed in collaboration with VAWC and Specifically focused on on worker co-op model • Culminates in development of a business plan for a co-operative enterprise • Delivered by faculty of the Economics Department faculty
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Certificate Program Experiences
• Luke Seaberg & Cole Lanier, Co-Managers at Earthfoods
• Luke: Internship with worker co-op Pedal People on business model and potential expansion
• Cole: Business development, customer survey, and economic and environmental impact study for worker co-op Valley Green Feast
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Other Internships
• Strengthening access to healthy food and food co-op membership for people on limited incomes.
• Worker co-ops and food co-ops partnering for business development.
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• Addressing issues of competition in the marketplace for small natural food co-ops.
• Investigating the challenges of start-up food co-ops and their technical assistance and financing needs.
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Building Careers in Co-operation
• Curriculum & internships connect the practical with the theoretical
• Co-operative business plans
• Internship host co-ops provide mentorship
• After graduating… • Get a job in the co-
operative movement • Or start your own!
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The Academy & Co-ops: Discussion for Partnerships
• The Challenge: Harnessing the research and institutional resources to support and understand co-operative economics and mutual benefit.
• A Foundation: Co-operatives, Faculty and Students working together on basis of collaboration, equality and shared objectives
• Potentialities: Secondary Education as connected to co-operative economy as capitalist and non-profit economies.
• Co-operatives dedicate resources and relationships to educational systems.
• Faculty and students opened up – or further supported – to engage the co-operative sector.
• A democratic economy we all can live in, work in and believe in.
Q: Are there Collaborative Models to Build on?
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One Collaborative Model: CMEC
• Co-operative Management Education Co-operative (CMEC) formed to develop graduate level management education for co-op professionals.
• Multistakeholder co-operative of co-operatives, co-operative associations, educational institutions, academics and students.
• Agreement with Saint Mary’s University defines collaboration in development of Co-operative Management Education (CME) program, including Master of Management: Co-operatives & Credit Unions and Certificate Program.
• Co-op Principles & Values embedded throughout curriculum, designed for active co-op professionals.
• Online platform supports cross sector, international collaboration among co-operative practitioners.
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Next Steps
• Building on the strengths of our collaboration. • Formalizing the CEC as a co-operative, building
on the experience of CMEC. • Agreement with the Economics Department at
UMASS Amherst on development and maintenance of the program moving forward.
• Long range visioning on development of curricula on co-operative enterprise and collaboration with student organizations.
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Summary
• Co-ops – especially secondary co-operative association – can form effective, sustainable partnerships with clear goals, process, structure.
• Academy/Co-op partnerships create value for co-ops, students, institutions & institutions for social and economic benefit.
• Formal collaborative partnerships such as the UMASS Certificate in Co-op Enterprise and CMEC represent a potential new model for sustainable beginning of collaborations and potentialities.
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Contact & Resources
• UMass Co-operative Enterprise Collaborative • www.umasscec.org
• Economics Department at UMASS • www.umass.edu/economics
• Neighboring Food Co-op Association • www.nfca.coop
• Valley Alliance of Worker Co-operatives • valleyworker.coop
• Book: “Building Co-operative Power – Stories and Strategies”
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